Stockhausen, Elisabeth von

COMPOSER (GERMANY)
BORN 13 Apr 1847, Paris - DIED 7 Jan 1892, Sanremo, Liguria
CAUSE OF DEATH heart disease
GRAVE LOCATION Sanremo, Liguria: Cimitero Monumentale della Foce, Via San Rocco 8 (538)

Daughter of Freiherr Bodo Albrecht von Stockhausen, who worked as a diplomat for the kingdom of Hanover. Her mother was Clotilde, Countess de Baudissin. Her father had been a pupil of Chopin. The family lived in Paris until they moved to Vienna when Elisabeth was five years old. In Vienna she was a pupil of the organist Theodor Dirzka and of the pianist Julius Epstein. For a short time Johannes Brahms also taught her. But it seems that he fell in love with her and was unable to continue the lessons, returning her to the care of Epstein.

In November 1868 she married the composer Heinrich von Herzogenberg in Dresden. They had no children. They lived in Graz until they moved to Leipzig in 1872. In these years Brahms was a close friend of Clara Schumann and from 1876 onwards he often stayed with Elisabeth and her husband when he was in Leipzig. In 1878 she met the music student Ethel Smyth. She supported Ethel and they became close friends.

In 1885 her husband became a professor in Berlin. They both suffered from health problems and they went to Sanremo in 1891 for the better climate. But she died there early in 1892, aged only 44. She was buried in Sanremo. Many of her compositions were lost, but her "Acht Klavierstücke" were published posthumously by her husband. He died in 1900 in Wiesbaden and was buried in that city.

Family
• Husband: Herzogenberg, Heinrich von (1868-1892, Dresden)

Related persons
• was pupil of Brahms, Johannes
• was a friend of Schumann, Clara

Events
26/11/1868Another unlucky love for Johannes Brahms. He had already missed out twice and this time the talented Elisabeth von Stockhausen was his object of desire. He gave her piano lessons but soon he was unable to continue this because of his emotions. But Elisabeth married the composer Heinrich von Herzogenberg on 26 Nov 1868 in Dresden. She and Brahms were friends until her death in 1892 and Brahms would carry a small photograph of her until his own death. [Brahms, Johannes][Herzogenberg, Heinrich von]

Images

The grave of Elisabeth von Stockhausen at the Cimitero Monumentale della Foce, Sanremo.
Picture by Androom (08 Mar 2014)

 

The grave of Elisabeth von Stockhausen at the Cimitero Monumentale della Foce, Sanremo.
Picture by Androom (08 Mar 2014)

 

Sources
Time Table of History, Xïphias, 1992
Objekt-Metadaten
Das Grab von Elisabeth von Herzogenberg in San Remo - Reiseschilderung von Dr. Manfred Merker
Elisabeth von Herzogenberg - Wikipedia


Stockhausen, Julius

Published: 19 Sep 2015
Last update: 19 Feb 2024